Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria echoed the decision of the Tbilisi City Court regarding the Ninotsminda Boarding School. She said she considered the ruling’s immediate execution.

The Tbilisi City Court decided removal of all children from Ninotsminda Boarding School. According to the statement of the Public Defender, the court ruling, once again, clearly indicates the real risk and danger that exists in the facility in terms of protection of children’s rights.

“The Public Defender of Georgia responds to the ruling of the Tbilisi City Court on the lawsuit of the non-governmental organization Partnership for Human Rights regarding the removal of minors from the Ninotsminda boarding school and considers the immediate enforcement of the court ruling as necessary.

The court ruling, once again, clearly indicates the real risk and danger that exists in the institution in terms of protection of the rights of the child and requires timely and coordinated action by state agencies. The Public Defender notes that the situation in the boarding school is not in line with the interests of minors and the existing standards, it is dangerous in terms of protecting the children from violence, their full development, socialization and preparation for independent living.

It is essential that the court assesses the general condition of the boarding house as a hazard in the judgment and its decision cannot be construed as implying that the hazard exists only for children with disabilities. According to the Georgian legislation, the non-governmental organization “Partnership for Human Rights” is a entity with the status of a special plaintiff, which has the right to use the status of a plaintiff only in relation to persons with disabilities. Accordingly, the court was restricted in its decision on all beneficiaries living in the boarding house.

It is necessary to take into account that the supervision of the state in the institution was not actually carried out for 10 months, and after the restoration of supervision, the process is delayed and incomplete, which indicates obvious shortcomings in the assessment of the individual needs of minors. Consequently, there is a reasonable suspicion that the official statistics of the disabled beneficiaries may not correspond to the existing reality and, in fact, their number may be much higher. This underscores once again the need to extend the ruling to all beneficiaries and to remove each juvenile from the boarding school immediately in order to assess children in a timely manner and identify their needs.

The Public Defender emphasizes that the process of removing children from the boarding school and placing them in alternative care should be carried out with maximum protection of the safety and interests of minors, in order to minimize the aggravation of children’s psycho-emotional state. Without any delay, a multidisciplinary approach should be taken to assess each beneficiary and his or her family, and priority should be given to returning children to their biological families, supporting and strengthening families as needed,” the statement reads.